What Do Your Chiropractic Assistants Focus On?
By: kim@chiropracticassistants.com
Do your CAıs concentrate on the patients who are non-compliant--
the
ones with problems keeping their appointments, who continually
run a
balance, who are constantly complaining? Now, think about the
eternal
wisdom that whatever you focus on expands.
If you notice that your office keeps attracting anything less than
the
most desirable patients who get well, stay, pay and refer, ask
yourself what your CAıs focus on, spend time on, and direct energy
toward. More than likely, theyıre focusing on the problems that
arise,
which merely attracts more problems.
Over a decade ago when I started managing our office, I noticed
that
we had quite a few issues that needed work. Being an excellent
trouble-shooter, I decided that I would meet with each CA on an
individual basis to find out what the problems were so that I could
help to solve them. Week after week, I asked the team to bring
their
problems to me, and week after week, I got more and more
problems. It
finally dawned on me because I was focusing on (and asking for)
the
problems, I was getting themand in droves!
Our office immediately shifted to focusing on the positive (in
other
words, whatıs going right), and the positive results followed. Iım
not
suggesting that we stuck our head in the sand about our obstacles,
but
we did begin to focus on the solutions. We began to completely
reframe
any problems that we encountered in a way that actually
empowered our
team to help build the practice, rather than unconsciously sabotage
it.
There are so many examples of the power of focus in your office.
Consider how many times youıve stopped to think about a patient
you
havenıt seen in months and they actually come in that same day.
Alternatively, think about a time when your office collections
were
low; if you continued to focus on the unpaid bills, thatıs all you got
more of--yuck!
Let me give you a few more examples of the power of focus from
our own
office in Ann Arbor, Michigan. When our own awesome CAıs focus
on the
A.C.E. topic each month, we almost always experience growth in
our
practice. Keep in mind, the information that I teach is typically not
new to our CAıstheyıve been listening to it and role-playing it for
years. However, when we focused on referrals, one team member
had 14
outside referrals in two weeks! When we focused on appointment
systems, our scheduled appointments and patient volume increased
by
10% three weeks in a row! When we focused on appreciating our
favorite
patients, our new patients doubled! Again, thatıs without any
changes
in procedure at all.